In 1954, with the assistance of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund, a campaign against yaws was initiated in Malaysia with the formation of a yaws elimination unit in the Ministry of Health. Between 1954 and 1975, the reported annual incidence of yaws fell from 140.85 to 1.25 per 100,000 population. When rates dropped to less than two per 100,000, the program was merged with the general health services. Currently when cases are reported, contacts are traced, school and village surveys are carried out, and appropriate treatment is given. The major problems facing the control program today are a loss of interest in control activities; a smaller number of health workers experienced in the diagnosis, management, and control of the disease; and a growing reluctance to treat asymptomatic contacts with penicillin for fear of anaphylactoid reactions. Despite these problems, it is not an unreasonable expectation that, with continued stimulation from the individuals responsible for infectious disease control, yaws will eventually be eliminated.
Some information on cancer in Malaysia are available, and its epidemiology is described. There is a need for systematic and coordinated collection of cancer statistics which are essential to patient management, cancer control programme formulation, implementation and evaluation. The decision of the Ministry of Health to introduce National Cancer Registry and to encourage epidemiological studies, which will ultimately lead to the utilization of data and introduction of control and preventive activities for cancers are positive steps in the right direction. Meanwhile, curative and palliative treatment is available from the existing hospital facilities, and preventive activities such as actions on smoking and health will be continued until such time when a comprehensive prevention and control programme for cancers in the country is evolved.